The present invention generally relates to enhancing a telephone call with background music, more particularly to a method and system that delivers background music or other audio during a real-time telephone call.
As deregulation of the telephone industry continues and as companies prepare to enter the local telephone access market and long-distance market, there is a need to offer new and innovative services that distinguish common carriers from their competitors. Some services can include conference calls, directory services or integrated voice response.
Business telephone systems including a plurality of incoming lines, and/or local telephone sets, are commonly known as xe2x80x9ckey telephonexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cPrivate Branch Exchange (PBX)xe2x80x9d systems. Such systems incorporate a xe2x80x9choldxe2x80x9d function, which allows an incoming line to be transferred from a telephone set to a passive shunting bridge while the telephone is disconnected from the line. This bridge prevents disconnection of the incoming call during the hold interval. The calling party on the incoming line does not talk to a person, but is placed in a sort of holding period or holding queue.
During the holding period, the held party can hear no sound. He may grow bored or think he has been disconnected, and may hang up. Systems are known which are directed to solving this problem by providing the held party with music or some other form of program to occupy his time until the call is again connected to the line. This is a one-way relationship in which the music is only transmitted to the held party. Such systems are commercially known as xe2x80x9cMusic on Holdxe2x80x9d or as xe2x80x9ctelephone hold program systemsxe2x80x9d. Music-on-hold is a common feature of business systems. It is used to occupy and pacify customers in holding queues, to deliver advertising or to add professionalism to businesses large and small. One example of a telephone hold program system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,067, issued to Levy, herein incorporated by reference. A disadvantage of these xe2x80x9cMusic on Holdxe2x80x9d systems is the lack of ability to provide the music or other audio simultaneously to the calling party and the called party during the telephone call. One method of inserting background audio in a telephone call disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,175 to Goldberg et al. There still exists, however, a need for an improved telephony service for customers and businesses in which subscribers can selectively elect to have music or other background audio played into their live telephone conversations.
The present invention solves the problem of offering new and innovative services that distinguish common carriers from their competitors. According to one aspect of the invention, a voice processing system provides background audio during a telephone call between a caller telephony device and a callee telephony device. The system includes a storage system containing a plurality of predetermined digital audio data files. The predetermined digital audio data files can include different types of music files. The system also includes a database having a plurality of subscriber data elements associated with the caller and callee telephony devices. In addition, the system includes a processing device for providing the predetermined digital audio data files during the telephone call based on the subscriber data elements linked to at least one of the caller or callee telephony devices. In this way, in one aspect, a telephone conversation between the users of the caller and callee telephony devices can have a virtual sound environment that can influence behavior of the users.
In another aspect of the invention, a network-based method provides background audio during a telephone call between a caller telephony device and a callee telephony device. The method includes the steps connecting a telephone call between caller telephony device and the callee telephony device. A database unit having a number of audio selections, in which an audio selection is associated with the caller and callee telephony devices. The background audio material is transmitted during the telephone call to the caller telephony device and the callee telephony device based on the audio selection.
In a third aspect of the invention, a network-based method provides background music to a calling party and a called party in which the calling party connects to a switching point. The switching point is an intermediary between the calling party and a desired called party. The method also includes determining an audio selection for playing background music associated with the calling party. Another step includes establishing a telephone call of the calling party to a desired called party. Another step includes transmitting the background music to the calling party and desired called party during the telephone call based on the audio selection associated with the calling party. Another step includes determining a subscriber data element associated with the calling party. Another step includes determining a terminating identifier data element associated with the called party. In addition, a service code data element associated with the terminating identifier data element is determined by the network.